Here we have a collection of short stories that revolve around a young boy growing up and his emotional growspurts are nicely captured in each and every one. There is a dreamlike quality to it and just a hint of supernatural elements and it certainly gives a good idea of what it was like to be a child growing up in the 1980's. I particularly liked the story with the pocket knife, as it perfectly describes how sometimes we can deeply hurt the people we love the most.

The chapters have an unfinished feel to it, but I believe it is the author's intent as it incapsulates how we experience our childhood in those short unfinished episodes. The writing is good and fluent and the structure of the stories are just right.

There is a story that depicts animal cruelty (luckily it ends well), and I just didn't like the last chapter when the boy is all grown up. I think it is superfluous and detracts from those childhood reveries. But all in all, a very good novella.

Thank you NetGalley, Brody & Malachi Press | BookBaby, and the author for allowing me to be an early reader. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Much like every collection of short stories, there were some I preferred to others.

I unfortunately had high hopes but some of the stories had violence and cruelty especially towards animals that was very grotesque and felt senseless and unnecessary: I liked the writing style but that’s all.

I’ve been reading a lot of short story collections lately, so I decided to give this one a try. I liked how the shared main character tied the stories together. As with most compilations, I liked some of the stories more than others. I appreciated the detailed descriptions throughout. That said, I thought that some of the narrative threads between stories could have been more tightly connected. The final story was especially creative and ended the collection on a realistic note.
Thank you to Brody & Malachi Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a free copy.

There’s nothing really wrong with it but overall I just wanted more. Some of the stories were great and others fell totally flat for me. Maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more if it was a full story. I’ll still recommend this to certain people and thought the writing was nice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Will Stepp for this digital ARC

1986 by Will Stepp is an intriguing read, but it doesn't quite hit the mark. While the narrative captures some nostalgic elements of the 80s, the pacing feels uneven at times, and the character development could have been stronger. The themes are interesting, but they don't fully resonate or reach their potential. Overall, it's a decent read for fans of the era, though it might leave others wanting more.

<i>***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review*** </i>

a collection of ten short stories revolving around an unnamed protagonist, intertwined with memory and home. i particularly liked the writing style—descriptive, fast-paced, and poetic. it very much reminded me of <i>It (2017)</i> for some reason. my personal favourite was “clubhouse” (i love a little dark detail). i will be honest though, i was expecting horror when i dived into this book but wasn’t disappointed to find surrealist nostalgia.

perhaps the lack of depth felt a bit underwhelming as it could have been developed into something more. overall, i did enjoy reading it while my power was cut :D

<b> <i> “When I think of my mother, I am filled with sorrow. Not for my sake, but for hers. She will be the one to miss me the most. And like any good son, I never want to cause her pain. But then, I real-ize, even if my death causes her pain, even that is temporary and not something to be avoided. You lived a good life. You tried to do good. To be a good person. And to leave your insignificant corner of the universe better than you found it. And even if you didn't always succeed, it was enough to try. Nothing is lost, and nothing is left undone. Then, all the world goes dark for me. Time passes in silent contemplation.” </i> </b>

x

I would have liked this better had it been a complete story rather than a collection of stories! It is well written and interesting to read about but I wish they correlated more.

I was really drawn to this set of stories because of the nostalgia of the time period. I felt the stories were concise and each offered something different as far as atmosphere. I will remember the knife story and the one at the truck stop for quite some time. I am glad these stories dealt in reality with the 80's. I had free reign and felt that we did not really fully recognize the danger. Thanks for the ARC, BookSirens and NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I guess with this one I got something that wasn’t what I expected. I’m not entirely sure what that was, and what I will say is that this author has a great prose. I really did enjoy the writing style but I think what let it down for me is that I don’t really feel like it ‘went’ anywhere.

To me, it sort of just felt like a little memoir of some events that happened in this boy’s life, that didn’t really amount to anything but were fond or even distressing memories about his family from when he was younger.

To me, it wasn’t like there was much a plot per se, but the characters were highly relatable, it was easy to see the connections he had with people and his family. I wish there was more to it, but it is what it is!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

Short interwoven and connected stories, some are a little bit hmm. Overall I quite enjoyed this book. That’s to NetGalley, publishers and the author for the arc.

This collection of interconnected short stories is an easy read. Stories from a childhood in the '80s, with a few dreamlike/surreal bits. I expected more weird or unexplainable or even spooky events, but it was mostly straightforward. The ending felt extremely cheesy to me.

1986 by Will Stepp is a poignant and quietly powerful collection of interconnected short stories set in the rural South during the mid-1980s. Centered around a young boy navigating the strange in-between of childhood and adolescence, the book captures fleeting moments—some tender, some unsettling—that collectively shape a coming-of-age both deeply personal and universally familiar.

Stepp’s prose is lyrical yet restrained, evoking the textures of a particular time and place: gravel roads, foggy mornings, drainage pipes, forgotten rooftops. The stories unfold in a haze of nostalgia, but never rely on it—each vignette stands on its own, often ending just before resolution, like memories that never quite close. Themes of familial tension, innocence, quiet rebellion, and the eerie undercurrent of growing awareness thread through the narrative.

While some stories leave more emotional impact than others, the collection as a whole feels cohesive and intentional. 1986 doesn’t shout; it lingers—like a half-remembered summer dream, or the distant hum of a lawnmower in the heat.

A beautifully crafted exploration of memory, place, and the strange ache of growing up.

These stories are all interconnected , however, it kind of give me disjointed vibes. While the prologue makes you feel like you are going through 80s vibes, it takes a dark turn.
the writing is vivid and that makes it more real but it was a short and quick one.
Some of the stories were ended abruptly which was unnecessary and they can be left out with a loose end.

A lovely collection of short stories. The book takes place from a boy point of view and follows different days of his life. The description of the setting of this books is so vivid, I can really imagine the small town Georgian countryside, with the large sweeping fields full of endless opportunities for a young child. Set in the 1980s, it creates a homely and nostalgic feel as you get to know the boy and his family.

A quick read, made up of ten individual stories/chapters.
Often confusing that they are actually linked, and I didn’t realise till the end that the narrator is the same boy. All set in the 1980s, except for the last chapter in 2006. Entertaining for an afternoon.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC opportunity.

** Trigger warnings. Dog abuse. Bullying.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for a copy of 1986. This book would have been so much better as a full length story of growing up in the 80s instead of a collection of stories with some overlapping, the stories just felt like they went no where. Some of the stories would have been better left out. This is well written and descriptive but sorry not for me.
Trigger warnings: animal abuse, toxic family traits, homophobia slurs and bullying.

"1986 - Stories" by Will Stepp is a collection of short stories based on the author's youth.

The title was a bit misleading because as I read, details didn't quite align from one story to the next, but characters carried over, so these seemed to be about the same main character. However, in one story, he lives in a trailer park, while in another he's living in an apartment complex. The ages and maturities of the characters seem to shift as well, leading me to believe that these are not all curated stories from the same year, and there isn't a singular standout story titled "1986" that would give the book its name. There's even one story at the end that takes place in adulthood. Also, the description of the book seems more lighthearted, focusing on the nostalgia of growing up, but the content is dark, focusing on bullying, getting lost, ghosts, anxiety, and scary adults. Overall, the tone and mood is darker than most collections of childhood stories and reads more like Stephen King stories of growing up ("The Body"/"Stand by Me", the non-horror portions of "It", etc.).

The writing is pretty good, and the characterization felt authentic to children of the 1980s. Stepp does a nice job of making kids sound like kids and adults sound like adults, both in narrative voice and in dialogue. The stories are short and written from the adult perspective, so many of the stories have some kind of life lesson that stuck with the narrator, and that helps to connect stories that might otherwise not feel as cohesive.

Readers looking for stories that will take them back to a 1980s childhood of Saturday Morning cartoons, toys, and the warmer parts of youthful memories won't find what they're looking for in this book. However, readers who are looking for darker, moodier stories might find this an interesting and quick read. As I fall within the former group of readers, this one wasn't really for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

A series of interconnected short stories about a boy growing up in the 1980's, some which leave you with an almost melancholic sense of nostalgia. The stories deal with the good and bad aspects of growing up and had me feeling wistful. They touch on dark issues such as difficult family relationships, love and friendship, bullying and feeling ostracized by others. A number of the stories have a mysterious, ghostly feel to them and their short length and writing style makes this an easy to read collection.

One of my favourite stories in the collection was New Knife, a lovely story about the love between a young boy and his grandpa, and a special gift he gives to his grandson.

A lovely collection about both the wonder and terrors of growing up. Thank you to NetGalley and Brody & Malachi Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

⭐⭐⭐.5

I was hooked from the beginning!!
These interconnected stories were amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.